Haute Mom Needs a Nap

For anyone who told me once your babies sleep through the night its smooth sailing, you lied. We are back in the up at 3 a.m. pattern thanks to a thing we bitterly refer to as teething. And, my darling little monkey has 5 teeth coming in, some of which are molars.

The only thing that Stella wants to do is nurse. I have done the baby Tylenol, the Orajel, the Orajel swabs, and even tried baby Ibuprofen last night. Nothing works except mommy and uh...some mommy soothing otherwise she is up for at least an hour before she settles back down. I guess Stella didn't get the memo that I have to get up at 5:30 because some of us in the household have to work.

So a very tired mommy is trying to figure out not only how to help sooth her little gums but also how to keep her sleeping. For any of you who have gone through this, you know how angry they are when they wake up in pain. Not fun for any of us. I will keep trying different things and until then will probably need to stay off any freeways in case I fall asleep at the wheel.

Sleep?! Who needs sleep?

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All Through The Night

To continue on with the sleeping saga, or lack thereof, my little angel Stella has earned the “Party in my Crib at 3 a.m.” onesie. She is quite the night owl lately and much to my embarrassment, she has learned that one of her parents will come and party with her if she just cries long enough. Now that I am working on an estimated of four hours of sleep per night over the past two weeks, I am more than ready for a solution. I asked my pediatrician what the deal was and he calmly replied, “Their sleeping patterns do change. Isn’t that funny?” No. It is not.


I’ve wondered if it was the fact that her two upper teeth were starting to make an appearance so I went bananas with the Orajel and Baby Tylenol. That didn’t work. I also realized that I may not have been feeding Stella enough so I upped her amounts of solid foods throughout the day. Gerber loves me but Stella did not sleep any more soundly. We are now in quite the nighttime routine and I fear, the longer it lasts, the more permanent it will become.

I started doing some research online (which sometimes is too much of a good thing) and read some articles on “sleep regression”. What drew me to these articles was the fact that all of them were linked to “9 month old not sleeping through the night” comments. BINGO! According to this sleep regression, when our little ones hit certain milestones (growing, teething, crawling, walking, etc.) their bodies physically and mentally are working overtime. This increase in activity can actually cause their little brains to process throughout the night, keeping them from a fitful night’s slumber. Such milestones occur at four months, nine months which is apparently the worst one (thank you very much), and twelve months.

Myth or fact? I am not sure. It makes sense to me but there is nothing but a blog devoted to this “sleep regression”. Their only solution is to wait it out which is what I am doing anyway so I guess it doesn’t matter if it is true or false. In the meantime, at least I have something to blame the bags under my eyes on.

Haute Mom Dilemma #27 ~ Lions, Tigers, Teeth, and a Beaver

Let’s start off with a happy New Year to all of you! I hope this post finds everyone slowly recuperating from a fun and safe holiday season.

My last dilemma about teething was titled “Lions, and Tigers, and Teeth Oh My!” and I couldn’t have been closer to the truth. You all may be sick and tired of hearing about the teething issues but this one is an original…I can assure you that! Stella now has her two bottom teeth and we seemed to have hit a steady period in teething. Although she tends to get bothered by the little suckers at night, I am seeing instant relief when I put on the Orajel, and she has returned safely to her crib for fitful sleep. Well, more fitful than the week of sleep-in-bed-with-mommy anyway. Hubby and I were confident that the worst may be over for awhile until we discovered the most horrific thing EVER.

The crib is one of the “safe” places that we put Stella when we need to use the restroom, shower, or take a break while we are home alone. Now that she is rolling, scooting, kind of crawling, eating and grabbing, the floor is no longer available. We have noticed that she is VERY CLOSE to pulling herself up and standing in her crib and are well aware of the urgent need to lower the mattress but I must admit, we haven’t yet done it. Getting home from Northern California the other night, we placed Stella with a couple of toys in her crib while we decide to tag team the car and unload all the goodies together. During one of my trips back into the house I hear my husband calling me with a strange sense of urgency in his voice. He says to me, “You will never believe what Stella has been doing.” At this point I roll my eyes and think to myself that I have seen it all but my thoughts were quickly quieted. On the back side of her crib bars, I find SCRAPE marks in the wood. Scrapes so deep that there are grooves in the wood and the wood finish has completely disappeared. I can only compare this to the inside of a cage where an animal tried to scratch or bite its way out. Apparently our little monkey (or shall we refer to her as beaver now) has been gnawing away at her crib bars during this teething time. I guess mommy could have saved some pennies on teethers, huh?

Is this normal?! I am debating writing a little letter to the crib company to discuss whether or not easily removing finish with my baby’s teeth might be a concern for them or if it should be a concern for me. I have been looking for little wood chips in her teeth since then. Ugh. Guess I need to find a safer “safe” place while I am at it too.

The beaver marks...

My little beaver showing off her pearly whites.

Haute Mom Dilemma #26 ~ Lions, and Tigers, and Teeth, Oh My!

I am still having teething issues.  The little one's two little bottom teeth have both popped through, one just days behind the other.  The problem is that most of the pain seems to come with the night, making bed time and sleep difficult.  I have been looking for things to try to help soothe Stella and am not entirely convinced that baby Tylenol and Orajel are doing the trick.  I have yet to find and try teething tablets but know that there is a certain ingredient in them that I want to avoid.  The problem with that is I can't remember what the ingredient is so until I Google search, I can't do anything anyway. 

With all the teethers, nets, and devices we have for Stella to gnaw on it appears that my shoulder and Blackberry are her favorite to chew on.  I also heard a frozen washcloth may serve the purpose and am willing to give ANYTHING a try.

The nighttime update still has Stella sleeping in bed with me and nursing her back to sleep in the wee hours of the morning.   My poor hubby is still sleeping on the floor in my parents extra bedroom and no doubt getting more sleep than the rest of us.  I am struggling with doing what is best for my piece of mind and risking the threat of this sleep with mom pattern that we have gotten into. 

I wonder if the first two teeth are the worst and then my usually happy baby will return for the rest of them or if this will continue for months.  I guess only time will tell along with the beaver-like marks I now have on my left shoulder.  The good news is grandma gets a try at it tomorrow while we take off to the local mountains for a day of skiing in powder.  Yipeee with a touch of guilt mixed in! :)

Haute Mom Dilemma #25 ~ Terrible Teething

For months and months I have thought that Stella was going to sprout a tooth.  The chewing, gnawing and drooling have been going on for the past three months and I was sure that a tooth would make an appearance by Halloween...then Thanksgiving...Well bottom tooth #1 has finally appeared and with it so has fussy baby and sleepless nights!



Stella showing off her new tooth - 12.18.10
 (you may need a magnifying glass)

I have done the baby Tylenol, the frozen teethers, the Orajel, and I just bought a teething net that I can load with frozen fruit.  I am currently on a search for teething tablets which seem to have been taken off the shelves at every local Target even though I have taken Stella out in our Southern California's once a year downpour.  What's up with that Target?  You have plenty of things I don't need but buy anyway and you can't have my back this one time? In the meantime, I have been bringing Stella into our bed every night around 3 or 4 a.m. and let her nurse herself to sleepy land.  I am sure she is getting spoiled but what's a tired mommy to do?

Well, as I have learned as a haute mom in the past seven months, be careful what you wish for.  I couldn't wait for a little tooth to come popping through and with it came all kinds of fun (insert sarcasm here). I also have been wishing for crawling....maybe I should rethink that.